Rekoil's K.I.S.S. Philosophy

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Nothing but the gun.

By Vincent Ingenito

As the old saying goes, keep it simple, stupid.

Anyone who grew up in the pre-Modern Warfare era of multiplayer shooters remembers a very different sort of duel than the soldiers of today engage in. It was a simpler time, but in some important ways, a better one – one where raw skill and map awareness were king. The folks at Plastic Piranha remember this time too, and their upcoming ode to FPS purity, Rekoil, is a reflection of their loving remembrance of a time before killstreaks and unlocks.

Rekoil’s lunch-pail visuals don’t really sell it in screenshots or video clips. That may not sound flattering, but it’s not at all a knock. Graphics can be used to impress, but they can also be honed to simply convey what the player needs to know, and Rekoil does this very well. It’s possible that you’ll forget what its character models look like the moment you step away from your monitor, but while you’re playing, the action is smooth, clear, and easy to follow, leaving you to focus on what matters: the target down the sight.

In fact, from the few matches I played, it would be fair to say that most of Rekoil is designed in such a way to bring the gunplay front-and-center. Multiplayer fans will be happy to hear that hit boxes feel well-formed, matching character models in such a way that makes it clear when a shot will hit or miss. The 40+ guns are all oldies but goldies – none of them will surprise you, but at the same time, they all behave exactly as you’d expect them to from other games. Again, that may not sound too sexy, but it does make for balanced, skill-based shootouts.

All that familiar hardware is split across multiple character classes. Before you start flipping tables and likening it to shooters of today, keep in mind there are no perks, killstreaks, or unlockables. Each class is assigned a pool of weapons unique to them, defining what sorts of engagements they’ll excel at, so it still all comes down to who knows their weaponry better than the other guy. Think of it more as a way to keep players away from unbalanced weapon combinations more than anything else.

All the tried-and-true game types are here too: deathmatch, team deathmatch, CTF, and several other objective-based modes, including one called The Hidden, which is nod to an old Half-Life 2 mod that casts one player as a cloaked predator hunting and eluding everyone else. Modders looking to make their own game types will have a full suite of editing tools to toy with right at launch too, further expressing Rekoil’s homage to the PC shooter scene of the 80’s and 90’s.

Plenty of armchair sharpshooters out there want to wage a no-frills war without having to sink countless hours into earning the gear needed to compete, and at a paltry $14.99, Rekoil seems like it will serve them ably.

Vincent Ingenito is IGN's newest recruit. He's pretty good at fighting games. Beware, and follow him on Twitter.